Granting Leadership to Asian Americans: the Activation of Ideal Leader and Ideal Follower Traits on Observers’ Leadership Perceptions

Abstract

Despite demonstrating high levels of academic and professional competence, Asians are underrepresented in leadership roles in North America. The limited research on this topic has found that Asian Americans are perceived by others as poorer leaders than White Americans due to perceptions that Asians lack the ideal traits of a Western leader (i.e., agentic) relative to White Americans. However, we contend that, in addition to poorly activating ideal leader traits, Asian Americans may strongly activate ideal follower traits (e.g., industrious and reliable), and being seen as a good follower may pigeonhole Asian Americans in non-managerial roles. Across 4 studies, our findings generally supported our arguments regarding the activation of ideal follower traits and lack of activation of ideal leader traits for Asian American workers. However, compared to their majority group counterparts, we found some unexpected evidence for a more favorable view of Asian Americans as leaders, which was primarily driven by the greater activation of ideal follower traits (i.e., industry and good citizen) among Asian American workers. Yet, we uncover an important boundary condition in that these "good follower" advantages did not accrue when observers experienced threat-revealing how the benefits of so-called positive stereotypes of Asian American workers are context dependent.

Language Patterns in Letters of Recommendation for Residency Applicants in Otolaryngology

“…Specifically, there was greater use of agentic terms in letters for applicants who self-identify as Asian or "other/not reported." Although this finding is at odds with the documented perception that Asians lack agentic traits, 18 it is in keeping with findings that letter writers in other specialties use more agentic language with Asian applicants and non-white applicants. 19 Further, SLOEs had significantly more communal language and less agentic language, regardless of gender (Table 4).…”

Mapping the traits desired in followers and leaders onto fundamental dimensions of social evaluation.

“…For example, Rosette et al (2016) theorized that Asian and Black women leaders face unique challenges due to how the prevailing stereotypes associated with these racialized identities relate to perceptions of agentic deficiency (Black women being stereotyped as not possessing agentic competence) and agentic penalty (Asian women being stereotyped as not possessing agentic dominance). Moreover, research on ideal follower and leader traits showed how stereotypes might be more likely to emerge when raters are in competition with those they are evaluating (Kim et al, 2022).…”

“…Moreover, research on ideal follower and leader traits showed how stereotypes might be more likely to emerge when raters are in competition with those they are evaluating (Kim et al, 2022).…”

An intersectional lens on young leaders: bias toward young women and young men in leadership positions

“…Conversely, compared to male leaders, female leaders were perceived as having more status (Study 1) or equal status (Study 2). One possible explanation is that without a direct threat, such as limited leadership positions, there might be no bias against groups based on static status characteristics such as gender or race (e.g., Kim et al, 2022 ). Another potential explanation for our findings might stem from participants’ awareness of prevalent research and expectations regarding gender stereotypes and bias.…”